6.  On 16 September 1971 Sweden and Finland concluded the Frontier Rivers Agreement (“the Agreement”) under which an inter-State body, the Finnish-Swedish Frontier Rivers Commission (finsk-svenska gränsälvskommissionen – “the Commission”), was established in order to oversee implementation of the Agreement with respect to certain matters, including fishing, in the frontier area between the two countries covering, inter alia, the Torne River in the coastal area of Haparanda. The Agreement was incorporated into Swedish national law by means of the Law of 1971 concerning the Frontier Rivers Agreement of 16 September 1971 between Sweden and Finland (lag 1971:850 med anledning av gränsälvsöverenskommelsen den 16 september 1971 mellan Sverige och Finland). To the extent that the Agreement did not include specific provisions, the relevant national law in force within each of the States was to apply (Chapter 1, Article 8).
7.  In 1997 the Swedish government issued an ordinance concerning fishing in the Torne River Fishing Area (förordning FIFS 1997:12 om fisket i Torne älvs fiskeområde), according to which the fishing of salmon and trout within the frontier area was prohibited between 1 May and 5 July each year, as was fishing with stationary equipment (fasta redskap) for other fish. Under Article 22 of the Statute on fishing in the Torne River Fishing Area (Stadgan för fisket i Torne älvs fiskeområde, Appendix B to the Agreement), the Commission was, subject to certain conditions, authorised by the government to grant exemptions from the above prohibition for persons holding private fishing rights in the area.
8.  For the 1999 season the applicants, who held private fishing rights in the Torne River Fishing Area, requested the Commission to grant them an exemption from the above prohibitions. On 31 May 1999 the Commission granted the eight professional fishermen authorisation to catch fish, other than trout and salmon, with stationary equipment, but rejected the remainder of the request.
9.  According to Chapter 8, Article 17, of the Agreement, no appeal lay against the Commission's decision on a request for exemption, which came into force immediately.
10.  Notwithstanding the above, the applicants appealed to the National Fishery Board (Fiskeriverket) and to the Environmental Court of Appeal (Miljööverdomstolen), both of which found, by decisions of 9 July 1999 and 5 October 2000 respectively, that they did not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter. Concurrently with this, the applicants also appealed to the County Administrative Court (länsrätten) of northern Sweden. That court referred the appeal to the Commission but, on 17 May 2000, the latter remitted the appeal to the County Administrative Court without taking any measures.
On 17 April 2001 the County Administrative Court dismissed the appeal on the following grounds. Reiterating the reasoning of the Environmental Court of Appeal, the County Administrative Court agreed that the determination of the applicants' right to dispensation was covered by Article 6 of the Convention and that they therefore had a right of access to a tribunal. The Commission, however, could not be regarded as a tribunal. The County Administrative Court concluded that it was not empowered to review an appeal against the Commission's decision. It stated, inter alia, that:
“The County Administrative Court notes that the Finnish-Swedish Frontier Rivers Commission is a special inter-State body which, in the County Administrative Court's opinion, cannot be equated with the County Administrative Board or the National Fishery Board. Thus, the County Administrative Court considers that the national rules concerning possible appeals against decisions by the County Administrative Board or the National Fishery Board do not empower the County Administrative Court to consider the appeal against the decision of the Finnish-Swedish Frontier Rivers Commission.”
11.  The applicants appealed against the decision before the Administrative Court of Appeal (kammarrätten) of Sundsvall which, on 19 December 2002, dismissed the appeal. While it agreed that the applicants had the right to have their complaint examined by an impartial and independent tribunal and that the Commission did not fulfil this requirement, the court found that – as long as the Agreement was in force and in the absence of an appropriate agreement between Finland and Sweden – no Swedish court could be considered competent to examine the applicants' complaint.
The applicants appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court which, to the Court's knowledge, has not yet delivered its decision.